Rupert Christiansen reviews two productions of the The Mikado: one performed by the Carl Rosa Opera Company on tour and the other by the English National Opera at the Coliseum

TWO performances of The Mikado in a week is no hardship for this critic, and in both cases I sat amid huge audiences, ranging in age from eight to 80, all having a marvellous time. We laughed, we cheered, we came out happy. So why are our opera companies so snooty about Gilbert and Sullivan? It is extraordinary that operettas as musically strong as Iolanthe or The Gondoliers shouldn't be as standard fare at Opera North or English National Opera as Tosca or La Traviata.

Both these revivals of The Mikado had their strong points. Carl Rosa's staging claims to be "authentic", following Gilbert's promptbook and reproducing the sets and costumes of the first 1885 staging. The enchanting Grand Theatre, Blackpool, recently restored to its fin-de-siecle glory, has much the same dimensions as the Savoy Theatre in London, where The Mikado was first performed, and the text and music projected easily, without amplification or vocal forcing.

A spry band (of the size that Sullivan specified) was deftly conducted by Richard Bolgan, and the whole performance had a nice light touch. Simon Butteriss's seasoned Ko-Ko was all the funnier for resisting Julian Claryish vulgarity, and there was some pleasant singing from Nick Sales and Marianne Hellgren as Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum in a jolly, colourful show that will delight traditionalists.

English National Opera's version is more sophisticated. Jonathan Miller's celebrated 1986 production is set in a Twenties grand hotel foyer: the Japanese are transformed into farcical Wodehouse types, and Katisha becomes a dead ringer for the Marx Brothers' monstre sacre Margaret Dumont.

At this, The Mikado's ninth Coliseum revival, the joke remains brilliant, and Stefanos Lazaridis and Sue Blane's designs are still a knockout, but the comic business is overplayed and the dialogue ineptly paced. Alex Ingram's conducting was short on fizz, and the Act 1 finale almost collapsed in disarray. Richard Suart's Ko-Ko and Bonaventura Bottone's Nanki-Poo went over the top and eventually became wearisome.

On the plus side, Suart's additions to the little list (including pretzels and Prince Harry) were spot-on, Frances McCafferty was genuinely funny as a bug-eyed Katisha, Alison Roddy's Yum-Yum radiated charm, Victoria Simmonds made her mark as Pitti-Sing, and the dancing bellhops were a scream. But elsewhere this gem of ENO's repertory needed more zealous polishing.